


Introducing... Superboy!

by Crypticbeliever123



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-14
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-10-31 19:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 14,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10905915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crypticbeliever123/pseuds/Crypticbeliever123
Summary: When the DEO searches for an escaped Lex Luthor they instead discover someone they never could have imagined existing... the hybrid clone of Superman and Lex Luthor. It's now up to the DEO to help this lost and lonely teen find his place in the world.





	1. Rescued

Lex Luthor has recently been broken out of prison by his mother and Cadmus, and the DEO is hot on their trails. Or so they think. They’ve located an old T-shaped Cadmus facility on an abandoned island that Lex was keeping off records that they assume the Luthors have been hiding at. What they find is far from what they could have imagined.

 

“Alex, do you see what I see?” Kara asks of her adoptive sister.

“Yeah, get him out of there. Now!”

“You heard the woman, get that boy out of that cell now,” J’onn orders of his agents.

 

They quickly break open the cell they’ve found with what appears to be an emaciated teenage boy with dark hair inside.

 

“Is he-” Alex asked.

“He’s alive. I can hear his heartbeat. It’s pretty weak though,” Kara interjects.

“Sir, the base appears to be abandoned,” one agent says as she enters the room after sweeping the building.

“This kid’s been here for how long, alone? Let’s get him out of here and back to headquarters now. We can’t waste a second,” J’onn orders.

 

* * *

 

Once at base, the DEO doctors insert an IV tube into the kid’s arm to get him back into somewhat good condition.

 

“Who do you think he is?” Kara asks.

“I don’t know. I’m more curious as to what he was doing at that place,” J’onn said while pacing.

 

The boy starts to wake up.

 

“Wha- What happened? Wh- Where am I?” he asks as he notices the lab he’s in.

 

Understandably he freaks out and rips the IV from his arm in panic.

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down. You’re safe. You’re okay. Or at least you will be once we get this IV back in your arm,” Kara says as she tries to restrain the kid.

“That’s not possible we just found him an hour ago and with the state he was in he should still be in a coma,” Alex says with confusion.

“I recover fast. Let go of me!” he yells as he pries himself from Supergirl’s grip much to everyone’s surprise.

“Who are you people?” he asks as he backs up against a wall.

“My name is J’onn J’onnz, Director of the Department of Extra-Normal Operations. This is Special Agent Danvers and of course you’ve heard of Supergirl.”

“No. What is she, like Superman’s sister or something?”

“You’ve never heard of Supergirl?” Alex asks with a scoff.

“No. I wasn’t told anything about the world outside the lab. Not even about the people.”

“Who are you?” Kara asks the boy.

“I am Project Titan.”

 

J’onn furrows his brow, confused.

 

“Project Titan?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you have a name?” Alex asks him.

“No. My mother, well surrogate mother, used to call me Conner sometimes, though, in secret.”

“Why in secret?” Kara asked.

“I wasn’t allowed a name.”

“What do you mean you weren’t allowed a name? Who didn’t allow you to have a name?”

“Lex Luthor. He didn’t want me to have a name. He wanted me to be a weapon, not a person. Only people get names. I’m not a person. He made that clear early on.”

 

Kara reaches her arm out to the kid to reassure him.

 

“You are a person.”

“You said you were called Project Titan. What exactly is Project Titan?” J’onn asked.

“Lex Luthor intended to clone the Man of Steel, Superman, in order to kill the alien threat. The Kryptonian’s invulnerability proved nearly impossible in obtaining a full genetic sample so he filled in the gaps with his own DNA in order to create a half-Human, half-Kryptonian hybrid clone; me.”

“Wait, wait. You’re a hybrid clone of _my cousin_ and _Lex Luthor_?”

“Superman is your cousin?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, now that we know who you are, what you are, perhaps you can tell us how long you were at that facility alone? When we found you, you hadn’t eaten anything for a long time,” Alex asks the boy.

“The facility was maintained by robots that were shut down one day and never came back on. That day was… July 18th, 2016.”

 

Looks of horror wash over the others’ faces.

 

“2016? You’ve been alone and without food for almost a year?!” Alex asks in shock.

“That’s horrible!” Kara declares.

“A year? What day is it?”

“May 14, 2017,” J’onn answers.

 

Conner runs his hands through his hair while taking a deep breath.

 

“Okay. So, I’ve been in a starvation induced coma for almost a year. Guess that means I’m sixteen now.”

“Well, look on the bright side. Because of your Kryptonian genetics, you didn’t die from malnutrition and we were able to save you,” Kara points out.

“Save me?! Save me for what purpose? What does it matter that I’m alive? I’ve been locked up my whole life, my mother was killed by Lex because she tried to help me escape from the lab, I watched him kill all of the others who worked on the project so they couldn’t do the same, I have no friends, I have no family, I- I-” he shouted before bursting into tears, “I don’t know what to do with my life.”

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re not alone anymore and you do have family. You have me. Just think of me as your cousin, Kara.”

“Kara? That’s your name?”

“Yeah, Kara Zor-El, also known as Kara Danvers. It’s nice to meet you Conner.”

 

Kara then pulled him in for a hug. His first hug. He didn’t know what it was, he only knew that it made him feel better.


	2. Meeting Superman

After getting Conner settled in, the DEO decided to call in Clark thinking that he had more of a right than anybody to know the kid existed. When he arrived, the Man of Steel was greeted by J’onn who quickly went into debriefing him on the situation.

 

“A what?!” Clark exclaimed.

“A hybrid clone of you and Lex Luthor genetically engineered by Cadmus. They called him Project Titan, but we’ve settled on the name Conner. After Luthor’s arrest he was left alone at the Cadmus base without food or water. When we found him he was in pretty bad condition but after getting some fluids and food into him he’s as good as new. He’s lucky he’s part Kryptonian otherwise… I don’t even want to think about it,” J’onn explained.

 

Clark ran his hands through his hair while taking a deep breath.

 

“Okay so, what are you going to do with him?”

“We were hoping you’d have some ideas about that.”

“Me?”

“Well he was made with your DNA.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean- I mean it doesn’t make me his-”

“His father?”

“I’m not- I’m- Look I don’t know what to do about this. I mean what would I even do? What would I tell people? That I have a long-lost son who’s sixteen? There’d be too many questions.”

“I get that you’re scared-”

“I’m not scared, I just- I don’t know how to process this.”

“Well you might want to figure it out fast because he’s coming this way.”

 

Kara and Alex then entered the room with Conner who before Clark could even say hi quickly dropped to his knees and bowed before him with his fists together.

 

“Uh, what are you doing?” Clark asked him.

“Showing that I recognize your authority, sir.”

“Yeah okay, get up,” Clark asked of him while helping him to his feet.

“Yes, sir. Whatever you say, sir.”

“Don’t- don’t do that. People don’t just follow orders like that and- and they don’t bow.”

“Do I make you uncomfortable, sir?”

“Yes. I mean no. I mean yes what you’re doing is making me uncomfortable and no _you_ don’t make me uncomfortable. Oh, boy this is awkward.”

“Extremely, sir.”

“Stop it with the sir thing. People don’t use sir that often. I mean where is any of this even coming from? Who taught you that this is what people do?”

“Lex Luthor.”

“Right, of course. He wanted to control you and make you respect him, right?”

“I guess. I don’t know what he wanted other than for me to kill you… Which I probably shouldn’t have said because I just made things more awkward didn’t I?”

“Little bit.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Not your fault Lex created you for his own evil purposes. I mean it’s not like you have any intention of actually trying to kill me, right?”

“Right. So… what’s Metropolis like?”

“It’s great. You know bright, sunny, lots of people. It’s great. But you know, you’ve seen one city you’ve seen them all.”

“I haven’t even seen one city. I haven’t left the DEO building since I woke up.”

“Supergirl and I could show you around National City if you want. I’d show you around myself but I’m not as familiar with it as my cousin is.”

“I’m in,” Kara declared.

“I’m in, too. Though I don’t get how you couldn’t be familiar with National City after you just said that all cities are alike,” Conner said.

 

* * *

 

At the end of the tour they arrived at Noonan’s where the two and a half Kryptonians sat down for a meal.

 

“This was fun. I’ve never had fun before. Thanks, Kara and… I never got your real name.”

“Oh uh, call me Kal.”

“Okay, Kal. Question, do all Kryptonians have names that begin with the letter K?”

“No, it’s just a coincidence.”

 

Clark glanced over at Kara and noticed she was glaring at him.

 

“What?”

“Kal, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure.”

 

The two cousins then got up from their seats to talk while Conner studied the menu. As he sat there he thought about how grateful he was that the DEO had rescued him and actually allowed him to experience the outside world. He never thought he’d get to do that. He looked over to the Kryptonians and wondered what they were talking about.

 

“ _Kal_? _Kal_? Why wouldn’t you tell him your name is-”

“Shh! He’ll hear you. Look, I didn’t tell him because I’m not so sure if we can trust him.”

“What?! Are you kidding me?!”

“No. Look, Kara you saw how he greeted me. I don’t know what Luthor did to him but if he’s spent his whole life with no one other than Lex as an influence what do you think that says about the kind of person he is? For all we know he could be completely indoctrinated into the Luthors’ xenophobic mindset.”

“That’s ridiculous! I’ve heard how he talks about Lex and it isn’t fondly. He hates Luthor just as much as we do!”

“How can you be sure? Has J’onn read his mind?”

“You know Kryptonians are immune to telepathy.”

 “He’s only half-Kryptonian.”

“Yeah, which is why J’onn tried to read his mind earlier and he couldn’t.”

“Which means we don’t know what he’s thinking and I for one-”

“Hey guys, sorry to interrupt but the waitress wants to take our orders,” Conner said as he walked up to them.

“Yeah sounds good. I recommend the bacon cheese melt, it’s delicious,” Kara said to him.

“Sure. Thanks for the suggestion by the way. I literally have no idea what half of these things even are.”

 

Kara glared at Clark as they sat down, just thankful that Conner didn’t seem to hear their conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave comments!


	3. Introducing... Conner Kent!

A week had passed since Conner met Clark and it was decided that he would stay with Kara and Mon-El at their apartment for the time being. Kara and Mon-El awoke to the smell of eggs and bacon.

 

“What’s that smell?” Kara asked as she stepped into the kitchen.

“Breakfast. I cooked,” Conner answered.

“You can cook?” Mon-El questioned.

“I googled it. Figured eggs and bacon would be easiest to start with. Tomorrow I’m thinking about trying my hand at omelets and then maybe after that pancakes,” he replied as he handed the pair their plates, “What do you think?”.

 

Kara and Mon-El both took a bite of their eggs.

 

“I think if you can make perfect eggs on your first try then I can’t wait to see what you can do with pancakes,” Kara replied.

“Well it’s easy when you follow instructions.”

“You mean a recipe,” Mon-El corrected.

“Not much of a recipe when it only requires one ingredient.”

“Fair,” Mon-El said as he stuffed his face with bacon.

“Hey, so I was reading the Daily Planet this morning. Did you know that Metropolis University is adding a new Xeno-Biology Study to the curriculum? Pretty cool.”

“Yeah, actually I did. My cousin told me about it yesterday while we were emailing.”

“Huh. You know this Clark Kent guy’s a pretty decent journalist.”

“Is he?” Kara asked.

“Yeah, I’ve read some of his other work and he’s covered some pretty good stuff, even a major story about a team up between Superman and Batman in Gotham last year.”

 

Mon-El scoffed.

 

“You like reading newspapers?”

“Sure. It helps me learn about the world. The people, the places, the things that happen every day. I love it. Hey Kara, you’re a reporter, right?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Do reporters travel a lot? I only ask because several of Kent’s articles refer to things that happened outside of Metropolis.”

“Some reporters travel, others tend to stay local. It all depends, why?”

“Just thinking about what I might want to do one day. You know as a career.”

“You want to be a reporter?”

“Maybe. I just want to explore the world, try new things, meet new people, see new sights, and I don’t know but being a reporter seems like it might help me do that.”

 

Kara smiled at the thought of Conner following in Clark’s footsteps.

 

“So, onto other things. You’re going to need to be enrolled in school a few months from now. Thought about a last name or are we just going to go with Danvers?” Mon-El asked him.

“I don’t know. Conner Danvers doesn’t have the best ring to it. What’s Kal’s last name?”

“I’d love to tell you but-” Kara replied.

“But he doesn’t want me to know it, does he?”

“No. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Lex didn’t trust me either. It’s why he kept me locked up all the time.”

 

Conner excused himself before heading out the door for a walk. He liked strolling through the city streets exploring whenever he got caught up in bad memories from the past or troubled thoughts about what the future would hold for him.

 

But it wasn’t just National City he liked to walk through. Oftentimes he would fly off to another city to see what was there. Today he figured he’d go to Metropolis and see where Superman spent his days. That was when he bumped into Lois Lane.

 

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t see you there,” Conner told her.

“It’s okay, kid.”

“Hey, haven’t I seen you on the Nightly Planet? The Daily Planet’s evening news broadcast on TV?”

“Yeah, I’m Lois Lane. I also write for the newspaper,” she says as she shakes his hand.

“Lois, bad news, Perry wants us back in-” Clark says as he walks over, stopping as he sees Conner standing there.

“And this is Clark Kent, fellow reporter and my boyfriend,” Lois explains unaware that they’ve met before.

“Um, hi, Mister… Kent.”

“Hi, kid. Nice to meet you. Uh, Lois we really have to get back to work.”

“Right. Bye kid, always nice to meet a fan.”

 

Lois and Clark then headed off for their office building as Conner stared off at them.

 

“Clark Kent,” Conner said to himself with a smile.

 

* * *

 

Later that evening, Kara and Mon-El returned home from a long day of dealing with bad guys at the DEO to find that Conner had prepared shrimp scampi with linguini for dinner.

 

“Hey guys. Hungry?” he asked them as they walked in.

“Wow first breakfast now dinner. I’m impressed. Also, starving give me,” Mon-El replied as he grabbed a plate of food.

“Well I just figured that it’s the least I could do to repay you guys for letting me stay with you.”

“You didn’t have to. We like having you here,” Kara explained as she sat down to eat.

“Maybe but still. Oh, and hey, you remember earlier when you asked what I wanted my last name to be so I could be enrolled in school?”

“Yeah why?” Mon-El asked with a full mouth, “Mm, Rao that’s good.”

“Well I’ve decided. I want to be called Conner Kent.”

 

Mon-El nearly choked on his food.

 

“I think that’s a great name!” Kara responded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to comment!


	4. Superpowers

The day after he declared himself to be Conner Kent and the DEO still hasn’t seen him use his powers. They’re wondering if he even has all of the abilities full-blooded Kryptonians have. J’onn has had enough of wondering.

 

“What abilities do you have, Mr. Kent?”

“Excuse me?” Conner asked.

“We’re all just wondering what your powers are. Seeing as how you’re the first ever Human-Kryptonian hybrid we don’t exactly know what you’re capable of. For instance, do you have super strength, x-ray vision, heat vision, super hearing-” Winn explains.

“We already know you can fly given that Clark told me about your little trip to Metropolis a couple weeks ago,” Kara butted in.

“Well, it isn’t exactly flight. I mean it’s the easiest explanation but that doesn’t quite cover it. You see because of my hybrid genetics I process yellow sun light differently therefore my powers are different.”

“Different how exactly?” J’onn asked.

“Instead of all the typical Kryptonian powers I have what Lex liked to call tactile telekinesis. That is, I can control anything with my mind so long as I maintain physical contact. It does, however, allow me to simulate certain Kryptonian abilities such as flight, super strength, super speed, and invulnerability. So, any questions?”

“How come you haven’t used your powers since we rescued you? You know other than when you visited Metropolis,” Winn chimed in.

“I was taught only to use them when told or whenever I was in combat. And even though I’m free now I just can’t help it. Besides, I don’t see much use for them in the real world. I mean I’m not exactly a superhero. Granted, I do have extensive combat and strategic training.”

“Yeah. So, how come you’re not a superhero? I mean, not that you have to be a superhero, just wondering why you aren’t. I would think that as a teenager with superpowers it would be your number one goal.”

“I don’t do tights, they remind me of what I was forced to wear at the lab where I was raised. Titan Tower, not a fun place to live.”

“You could always wear armor like James does,” Kara suggested.

“Armor is used to protect its wearer. I am literally as indestructible as I want to be. Why would I wear armor?”

“Just a suggestion,” she shrugged.

“Whatever. Anyone else got questions?”

“Not a question, but I do have an idea,” Winn said with a smile.

 

* * *

 

The group then headed out to the desert where they had initially tested Kara’s abilities when she first became Supergirl. Winn decided it was about time they do the same with Conner.

 

“He’s a pretty good flier, even faster than you or Superman,” J’onn said to Kara.

“Yeah, he’s even doing well with the sharp turns.”

“Hey, what’s that he’s doing?” Winn asked in regard to Conner’s apparent manipulation of clouds in the sky.

“I don’t know. Mr. Kent, care to explain what you’re doing with those clouds?” J’onn responded over the comm.

“I’m condensing the particles of moisture in the clouds in order to cause-” he said as the cloud turned gray and started to pour droplets of water onto the ground, “rain.”

 

Conner then rejoined the others back on the ground.

 

“So, what did you think?”

“I think you understated your abilities. I never would have imagined you were capable of controlling the weather with your powers,” J’onn answered.

“Technically I can’t. I mean I can manipulate clouds to either stop or start rain but that’s about it.”

“What else can you do with this?” Kara asked.

“I can do this,” he said as he headed over to the sandy region and placed his hand on the ground.

 

The ground then began to move to form a fairly large and intricate sand castle.

 

“Ta-da. An exact replica of Chateau de Chambord in the Loire Valley of France made out of sand, dirt, and clay.”

“Whoa! That’s amazing!” Kara declared.

“Dude, how do you even know what the- the-” Winn said before getting tripped up by the name.

“Chateau de Chambord.”

“Yeah, how did you know what that looks like?”

“Internet, duh. I google stuff about foreign places when I’m bored.”

“Well I’m impressed. The detailing alone. How much focus does it take to do something like this?” J’onn asked.

“Not as much as you’d think. I just picture something and I can make it out of anything. It’s just a simple matter of rearranging the molecules of something. Care to see what else I can do?”

“Very much so, Mr. Kent,” J’onn answered.

 

* * *

 

As the group continued testing Conner’s abilities, Lex and his mother arrived at Titan Tower looking for him.

 

“So, why exactly are we here again?” Lillian asked of Lex.

“We’re here for my son, a genetically engineered superhuman.”

“You mean Kryptonian abomination,” Henshaw rebutted.

“He may be half of Superman, yes, but he is also half of me. And I made sure that he would be loyal to me no matter wha-” Lex said as he entered the room to find that Conner was not there.

“Well, looks like he’s escaped. So much for loyalty. And anyway, I don’t see how he could be of any use to us,” Lillian butted in.

“He’s of use, mother, because his abilities allow him to kill any living thing with a single touch.”

“How do you know that?”

“Same reason I know he would help. Over the years, I indoctrinated him to respond to a vocal command that strips him of his free will. One day I used it to make him eradicate the scientists who would have turned against me just to take him from me. All it took was for him to tap the forehead of each of them and they were gone. Just as the Kryptonians and their allies soon will be.”


	5. Old Wounds

About a week and a half later, Conner seems to be in a bad mood and no one seems to know why.

 

“Hey, Conner, you have to check out this video. It’s freaking adorable!” Winn told him.

“Not interested.”

“Oh, come on you’ll love it. It’s a zookeeper feeding a baby panda and then the panda sneezes and the zookeeper’s face gets splattered with panda formula and snot.”

“Sounds unfortunate. But question, why isn’t the panda being fed by its mother?”

“It’s just standard with zoos to feed all the animals themselves. Plus, pandas are endangered so they kinda have to make sure the baby’s eating enough. Seriously though, you sure you don’t want to watch it? Might put a smile on your face.”

“No thanks.”

 

J’onn, Alex, and Kara walked in discussing the ongoing manhunt for the Luthors.

 

“Any leads yet?” Winn asked them.

“Unfortunately, no. The Luthors seem to be keeping off-grid for the time-being,” J’onn answered.

“Well that sucks,” Conner muttered.

“Everything okay?” Alex asked him.

“Yeah, everything’s great. Why do you people think I’m in a bad mood?”

“Maybe because you are in a bad mood,” Kara replied.

“I’m not.”

“Maybe try telling that to your face,” Winn said as he headed out.

“My face is fine. And where are you going?”

“Helping James on patrol tonight. Hey maybe you could tag along. I mean patrol always makes me feel better.”

“No thanks and I don’t need to feel better. I’m fine!”

“You don’t seem fine. You seem agitated. The DEO has a counselor on call to help agents deal with emotional problems and stress that comes from the job. You’re more than welcome to-” J’onn input.

“I said I’m fine! I don’t have any emotional problems. I’m not stressed. So, why don’t you people just leave me alone?!”

“Whoa, hey. Just take a deep breath. Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in-” Alex suggested trying to calm him temper as she laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.

 

He then shook off her hand and took a step back.

 

“I don’t need to breathe. I just need you people to quit bothering me about issues you think I have.”

“We’re just concerned about you. We’re your friends and Alex and I are your family. If anything’s bothering you-” Kara said to him.

“You’re bothering me. You, Winn, Alex, J’onn, you’re all bothering me,” he said in a frustrated tone before sighing, “You know what how about instead of worrying about me you focus on finding Lex and his mother before they hurt someone?”

“We’re working on it,” J’onn responded.

“Well, work harder. Every second they’re out there is another second the world is in danger.”

“We know that and we’re doing the best we can. But until we find a lead, there’s nothing we can do at the moment. And seeing as how you’re not a superhero, I don’t see why you seem so anxious to get into a fight.”

“Whatever. If any of you need me I’ll be in the gym punching something.”

 

The others looked at each other in confusion. They didn’t understand why Conner seemed so angry. Kara was interested in finding out.

 

* * *

 

When she walked into the gym, Kara found Conner was beating a punching bag senselessly.

 

“Care to tell me what’s bothering you?” she asked him.

“Not particularly,” he said, not taking his focus away from the bag.

“Conner, I’m your cousin, your family. If something’s wrong you can and should tell me about it.”

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s something. Talk.”

 

Conner then stopped punching the bag and turned to face Kara.

 

“Today’s the anniversary of my mother’s death.”

“Your mother?”

“Surrogate mother, technically, but yeah. Her name was Dr. Caitlin Fairchild. She was the one who gave birth to me, who changed my diapers, who taught me how to talk, how to walk. She was- she-” he said as he started to get choked up.

“She was your mother and if I had to guess, probably the only person you had in your life who cared for you before we found you.”

“Yeah, she was. I don’t know why it still bothers me. I mean she died when I was five, so why am I still torn up about it?”

“Because she was important to you and when you lose someone you care about you tend not to get over it… well ever. I mean it gets easier with time but you’ll always hold them in your heart no matter what.”

“So, I’ll always hurt over what happened to her? I’ll never get over it?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t. Don’t try to make this better, because you can’t. I’m going to get some air. The gym’s too crowded,” he said as he left the room.

 

* * *

 

While strolling through the streets at night Conner was suddenly encountered by someone he hadn’t seen in a long time.

 

His mother.

 

“Dr. Fairchild?” he asked just barely above a whisper with eyes wide in disbelief.

“Conner, we need to talk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always feel free to comment!


	6. Guilt

Conner brought his mother to the DEO where they quickly began to discuss how it was she was alive and what brought her to National City.

 

“When I tried to free Conner years ago I was caught by Lex and tossed in a cell where I was tortured. He figured that since I had a rapport with Conner I could still be of use to him. Then something happened with the other scientists at the island, something terrible. I used the incident as a chance to escape and I’ve been on the run ever since. Had to change my identity a number of times,” Dr. Fairchild explained as she took out her wallet to show the fake IDs she had been using.

 

She put the wallet back in her purse as she continued her story.

 

“When Lex was arrested, I was able to come out of hiding for the most part but when I heard of his escape I decided instead of being found and killed that I would find him instead and put him behind bars. That’s when I learned that he was coming back for Conner. I couldn’t let him get his hands on him so I sent you that anonymous tip that led you to the Tower first so you could rescue him. I’m sure you all have questions.”

“Why didn’t you send help for Conner sooner? He was in that place for years suffering at the hands of Lex Luthor and was then left alone with no food or water for almost a year. Why didn’t you save him?” Alex asked.

“Alex!” Conner interjected.

“It’s a valid question. And the answer to that is that I didn’t think anything I could do would help him. People would either think I was crazy or the ones who didn’t would just stick him another lab and experiment on him. I didn’t know back then that the DEO existed and when I did find out it was only because I had picked up radio communication between the Luthors about it. I would have given anything to save him but I didn’t know what to do,” Dr. Fairchild answered.

“We have bigger things to worry about than past mistakes. What we need to do now is find the Luthors and figure out what exactly they wanted Conner for,” J’onn butted in.

“Well, obviously, they wanted to use me as a weapon.”

“How? I mean it’s not like they could just force you to do something that you don’t want to,” Kara questioned.

“Actually, they can.”

“Conner don’t,” Dr. Fairchild insisted of him.

“Don’t what? What are you talking about?” J’onn asked.

“When I was growing up Lex conditioned me to respond to a verbal command that would make me do whatever he asked of me… He’s only used it once, but once was enough to convince me to just go along with what he wanted so that he couldn’t make things worse by controlling me.”

“What happened?” Alex asked.

“The incident Dr. Fairchild mentioned with the scientists. That was me. Lex used the command to make me kill every single one of them when they began conspiring to shut down the project in order to help me. 38 people dead… at my hand. I-” Conner explained causing him to get choked up and start crying out of guilt, “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

 

Kara then pulled him into a hug to comfort him.

 

“It’s not your fault. You weren’t in control.”

“How could it not be my fault? It was my powers that killed them.”

“You were brainwashed by a psychopath with an agenda and virtually unlimited resources. There wasn’t anything you could have done,” J’onn tried to reassure him.

“I could have killed him.”

“What?” Kara asked in surprise as she pulled away to look him in the eye.

“I could have killed Lex before it happened. I was able to touch him, shake his hand, if I had used my powers on him he wouldn’t have been able to make me kill them and every bad thing he’s done since wouldn’t have happened either.”

“If you had killed him you would’ve been no better than he is. You would have proven yourself to be more of a Luthor than a Super,” Alex stated.

“I’m no Super. I’m a monster, an abomination. A Kon-El.”

“What did you just say?” Kara asked.

“I said I’m a Kon-El. An abomination in the house of El.”

“You speak Kryptonian?” J’onn questioned.

“I’m fluent in countless languages. Kryptonian’s just one of them. I’m sorry I need some space right now. I’ll be in the gym if you need me.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Kara and Dr. Fairchild said simultaneously.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Kara told her.

“No, it’s okay. You go. You probably know him better,” Dr. Fairchild replied.

 

* * *

 

Kara followed Conner to the gym where she found him sitting against a wall with his head in his knees.

 

“Conner-”

“Please don’t tell him.”

“Tell who what?”

“Please don’t tell Clark I’m a killer.”

“You’re not a killer. You’re just a kid who lost control over his own actions because of the most evil human being on the planet.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that those people are dead because I exist.”

“Come here,” she said as she pulled him in for a hug.

“It’s going to be okay.”

“How? Lex is coming for me. All he has to do is say those words and-”

“He won’t get to you. We won’t let him get to you. I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always please leave comments! I don't care about kudos, only comments. Feedback is the BEST!!!


	7. Shopping

Three days later and Dr. Fairchild has practically become a part of the team. Meanwhile Conner’s been freaking out over Lex coming for him so Alex decides the best way to get his mind off of it is a good old fashioned shopping spree. It’s also convenient since he doesn’t have that many clothes.

 

Maggie tags along if only because Alex has zero fashion sense when it comes to guy’s clothing. While Conner looks around the store for clothes he likes Maggie talks with Alex about her new… cousin? Little brother?

 

“I don’t know. I don’t know what exactly I am to him. He’s become Kara’s newest cousin but I don’t know what that makes me,” Alex admits to her girlfriend.

“You’ll figure it out. Besides I don’t think he really cares that much about labels, to him everyone’s either friend or foe,” Maggie replies in between bites of chips she bought at the mall’s food court.

“Yeah, but that’s kind of sad, isn’t it? I mean for things to be so black and white that he just shuts out everyone he doesn’t trust just because he doesn’t know them. How is he ever supposed to make friends with people his own age then?”

“Not sure. Though I think the fact that he lacks social skills would be more of a contribution to making friends than that would be.”

“He has social skills.”

“Right, ’cause doing whatever someone tells him to just because he doesn’t know how else to get someone’s approval is totally normal.”

“Okay, I’ll admit out of context he does come across as sort of desperate but he doesn’t have a whole lot of experience with people is all.”

 

Conner walks up to them holding a pile of clothes so large it blocks view of his face.

 

“Hey guys, which way are the dressing rooms?” he asks them.

“Uh it’s down by the jeans over on your right,” Alex answers.

“Thank you,” he says as he heads off.

“Wow. Think he has enough clothes?” Maggie asks sarcastically.

“More than enough by the looks of it. I just wonder if anything he picked out won’t make him look like a total dork. You know he spends his whole time around Kara and Mon-El and their human disguises make them look like nerds. Don’t tell them I said that.”

“Your secret is safe with me. Come on let’s go see what he picked out.”

 

When Conner comes out of the dressing room he’s wearing a pair of jeans and a black and red Superman t-shirt much to Alex and Maggie’s amusement.

 

“What do you think?” he asks them.

“Looks great, kid,” Maggie replies.

“Yeah, it uh, it definitely works for you,” Alex tells him.

“I just like it because of the S-shield.”

“Did you pick out anything that didn’t have an S-shield on it?” Alex asks him.

“Sure. I picked out some long-sleeved shirts, more jeans, a couple hoodies, you know typical clothing. Or at least I think it’s typical. I don’t actually know. This is the first time I’ve ever been shopping.”

“Well try them on. I mean you can never go wrong with jeans but you should at least make sure they fit,” Maggie says as she gently pushes him back toward the changing room.

 

He tries on a number of outfits before settling on six of them including the one with S-shield t-shirt. He liked that one the best.

 

* * *

 

They then headed to another part of the mall to buy Conner a cellphone. He didn’t understand why he’d need one since he was typically quiet and kept to himself most of the time. Alex did manage to convince him on getting one by telling him about different games and apps he could get once he got one.

 

“Find any you like?” Maggie asked.

“Still reviewing the options. Checking storage space, battery capacity, processing power, stuff like that. Oh, found one,” he replied.

“Looks good. We’ll get that one,” Alex told the store clerk to get the phone off the rack.

“Excellent choice. The Samsung’s one of our best sellers,” the clerk replied as he got the phone for them.

“I don’t know. The price is a lot higher than the clothes were,” Conner said.

“Hey, we’re family. I’m allowed to spoil you,” Alex told him.

“So, it is a lot. I don’t know if I feel comfortable with you guys spending so much on me.”

“We’re not buying you anything you don’t need. You need clothes so you won’t be naked, and you need a phone so that you can call any of us in case of an emergency,” Maggie assured him.

“I guess so. Though I doubt that I’d even be able to dial a number if it was an emergency.”

“That’s what’s so great about speed dial. I’ll show you how to put it in later,” Alex told him.

 

* * *

 

After they returned to Kara’s apartment, Alex gave Conner a list of phone numbers of everyone he knew and demonstrated how to put contacts into his new phone by putting in Kara’s as “Cousin Kara”.

 

“There. That’s how you do that,” she told him as she passed him the phone.

“Okay,” he said as he input her number under the contact name of Aunt Alex, “So, like this?”

“Yeah. Yeah, just like that,” she answered with a smile.

“Thanks, Aunt Alex,” he said with a hug that Alex happily reciprocated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting sooner. I went to go see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 yesterday. As always please feel free to comment!


	8. Losing Control

Conner was walking through the park when he suddenly got a call from an unknown number. He ignored it thinking that someone probably dialed him by mistake. However, the number kept calling him so he decided to answer it to let whoever it was know that they had the wrong number.

 

They didn’t.

 

“Listen, pal, I don’t know who you are but you’ve got the wrong-” Conner said before being cut off.

“Red sun,” Lex Luthor said on the other end of the line activating his control over Conner.

“What are my orders?” Conner was preprogrammed to ask.

“Here’s what I need you to do-” Lex replied with a smile.

 

* * *

 

Later at the DEO, Superman had arrived to help with the mission to recapture Lex and Lillian as they had finally located them. Conner walked into the room where he was greeted awkwardly by Clark.

 

“Uh, Conner, hi. How’ve you been?” he asked without receiving a reply.

“Uh, that’s a nice shirt. Those uh novelty S-shield t-shirts are really popular with kids your age. Should help you fit in at school. You know when you go to school,” Clark continued.

“Conner, you okay?” Kara asked as she watched him approach Clark in a trance-like state.

 

Conner raised a hand near Clark’s face appearing to struggle as he moved his hand closer.

 

“Conner, what are you doing?” Kara asked.

“Stop… me,” Conner struggled to say.

“His programming was activated! Superman move, now!” Alex yelled as she drew her weapon, not that it was useful against a kid who was indestructible.

 

J’onn used his telekinetic powers to throw Conner against a wall so that he couldn’t hurt anyone.

 

“What’s going on? What did Alex mean by programming?” Clark asked.

“Lex implanted mental programming in Conner’s mind to control him. Lex must’ve made contact with him,” Kara explained.

 

Conner then used his powers to counteract J’onn’s own and free himself from the wall before beginning his attack against Superman who was barely able to get a single hit in due to the boy’s extensive combat training. Kara then joined the fight to try and keep Conner from doing something he’d regret later.

 

However, Conner’s abilities coupled with the training he received at Titan Tower make him more than a match for the two Kryptonians knocking them both out swiftly. But when J’onn joins in the fight, using his telekinetic abilities to add more force to his punches, Conner quickly realizes that he has to retreat. He escapes from the DEO headquarters and flies off.

 

“Why aren’t you going after him?” Alex asked J’onn as she helped Kara to her feet.

“Because I planted a tracer on him so that we could follow him back to the Luthors,” the Martian replied.

“Smart,” Clark responded, “You know what else would’ve been smart? Locking him up once you learned Lex had brainwashed him!”

“It’s not his fault! He said he couldn’t be brainwashed unless Lex said some code phrase to him and we didn’t think the Luthors had any idea where he was,” Kara insisted.

“Of course the Luthors knew where he was! They’re the Luthors! They’re the smartest people on the planet! You didn’t think to at least have one of your agents keep an eye on him at all times?”

“ _We_ trust him! Just because you can’t accept that he is a good person doesn’t mean he’s not. Besides, if we sent someone to spy on him he wouldn’t trust us and he’d run off to who knows where and I’m pretty sure you’d hate that even more than you hate him!” Kara screamed at her cousin.

“I don’t hate him!”

“The hell you don’t!”

“Enough!” J’onn yelled at the Kryptonians who eyes were starting to look like they had tints of heat vision red in them.

“You two can argue about this later. Right now we have to find Conner and free him from the Luthors’ control before they make him kill anyone else,” J’onn continued.

“Else?! He’s killed before?!” Clark asked furiously.

“He wasn’t in control of his actions!” Kara yelled at him.

“Right. Just like right now. We’re lucky he didn’t kill any of us,” Clark responded.

“It wasn’t luck,” Alex interjected, “It wasn’t luck. He didn’t fail to hurt any of us. He fought against the programming. Remember? He was trying to touch Clark and was probably supposed to kill him or something but he couldn’t do it and asked us to stop him. He was able to resist the programming even for a second.”

“Then there might be hope. Winn, get the satellites to locate the tracer I planted on him. Alex help me re-strategize, with Conner under their control we’re going to need a new plan for capturing them,” J’onn ordered.

 

As Winn started to track the signal and Alex followed J’onn out of the room, Kara turned to her cousin with a look of disappointment on her face.

 

“You know you’re his hero? He looks up to you, Clark. He picked out that t-shirt because he idolizes you. And it breaks his heart to know that you didn’t trust him enough to tell him your name,” Kara told him.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because, he has killed before and it haunts him every day even though those people helped Lex put him through hell. He wouldn’t kill you today. Ever think that maybe his conscience wouldn’t allow him to kill one of the greatest superheroes on Earth? That maybe he is a good person? You know what, forget it. You’re never going to give him a chance,” Kara said as she left in a huff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think!


	9. A Chip off the Old Block

After leaving the DEO Headquarters Conner then headed to meet Lex, his mother, and Henshaw at a Cadmus warehouse.

 

“Titan, how did the mission go?” Lex asked the boy.

“I failed, sir.”

“So much for your unbeatable soldier,” Lillian scoffed.

“Wait a minute, what do you mean you failed? How?” Lex questioned.

 

Conner didn’t say a word but his hands clenched into fists and his expression made the answer quite clear.

 

“I see. You resisted your programming and actively avoided completing your assignment. On the one hand, I’m impressed at how strong your will is. On the other, that is a definite problem. I’ve trained you to be a mindless weapon, to do as I say and nothing else.  You shouldn’t even have free will.”

“Maybe you should have built a robot instead of creating this abomination,” Henshaw butted in.

“I wish you and my mother would quit insulting my son. He may have Kryptonian genetics but he is far more of a Luthor than he is a Super.”

“How so?” Lillian asked her son.

“He has a highly advanced intellect, he is quite adept when it comes to science, he wants to make the world a better place, and whether he’d admit it or not, he hates aliens just as much as we do, mother.”

“What makes you think that?”

“He told me so.”

 

* * *

 

*Flashback*

5 years ago, at Titan Tower Conner escapes his cell and tries desperately to send out a distress signal from one of the facility’s computers after the building goes into lockdown. After being caught, he is taken to “the punishment room” a chamber where he is restrained and tortured for over a month for his attempt at escape.

 

“So, have we learned our lesson?” Lex asks him.

“Yes,” he answers meekly through his tears and pain.

“And what have we learned?”

“That I belong here. That I am meant to do as I am told and nothing more.”

“Good.”

“And…”

“And?” Lex echoes with an eyebrow raised.

“And that no one else cares about me but you. I sent a distress beacon and no one came. Not even Superman. Superman didn’t care. You do. Superman isn’t a hero. He doesn’t save people. He’s a liar and deceiver. Just like all aliens. They say they come in peace to be our friends but they don’t care about people. They don’t care because they’re not human. They have no humanity. They’re evil, every single one of them. Especially Superman. I hate Superman.”

 

Lex smiles at the speech.

 

“Excellent. Just excellent my boy. You’re a regular chip off the old block. A Luthor though and through,” he tells Conner as he releases him from his restraints, “You make me proud, son.”

“I am glad, father. All I want is to make you proud.”

“Perfect. Come, it’s time you return to your room. I’m sure you’re exhausted after your punishment,” Lex said as he led Conner back to his cell.

 

Meanwhile, Conner thought to himself how happy he was that he was able to fool Lex into believing his words. But at the same time the 11-year-old felt ashamed of himself. He lied, deceived, manipulated, just like he knew Lex did all the time.

 

He feared that this act of deception only proved that his Luthor genes were stronger than those of Superman whom he knew would have saved him if the signal had gone through. He feared this was proof that he was a terrible person just like Lex himself.

 

* * *

 

*End of Flashback*

“Look, instead of debating whose side Titan is on how about we get to work, shall we?” Lex suggested to his colleagues.

“Agreed, now how’s about you tell us what this brilliant plan of yours is?” Lillian asked.

“And what it has to do with him?” Henshaw added as he gestured to Conner.

 

As the Luthors and Henshaw discuss Lex’s plan, Conner stood still unable to move, to escape. All he could do was stand there and listen to the diabolical plan of the monster who spent years torturing him, manipulating him, breaking him apart body, mind, and soul.

 

But if one good thing came out of all that, it was that he learned how to deceive a deceiver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for not updating sooner. I have three different multi-chapter fics in the works and a recent case of writer's block has been causing me trouble. I can only promise to update weekly from now on. As always please feel free to comment!


	10. Project Krite

As the others traced Conner’s location, Winn went to work in his lab trying to find some way to break Luthor’s hold over Conner. That was when he found something important.

 

“What the hell?” Winn asked himself.

“It’s Conner’s notebook,” Dr. Fairchild answered.

“Geez, you scared me! How long were you standing there?”

“Just a second or two. Why do you have Conner’s notebook?”

“Not sure, I just found it in here,” he replied.

 

Winn then started going through the small book’s pages.

 

“He sure has a lot of stuff written in here, like these two lists he has comparing himself to Lex and Superman. And- huh what’s this?” Winn asked, noticing some chemical formula scribbled into a few of the pages.

“I’m not sure. Let me see that,” Dr. Fairchild requested as she took the book from his hands and started inputting the formula into the computer to see what the compound was supposed to be.

“It looks like it’s derived from Kryptonite,” she stated.

“Kryptonite? Why would he have something written in his book about something that could kill him?”

“This doesn’t seem like it would. It looks like it’s supposed to be a new synthetic form of Kryptonite, a kind of purple variety.”

“Purple Kryptonite? Okay, any idea what it does?”

“Well based on the chemical composition and his notes, it looks like it would affect Conner’s mental state in a similar way to red Kryptonite by uninhibiting him and making his mind a raging storm while also making him more rational like how blue Kryptonite affected someone called Bizarro.”

“Makes sense I guess, Bizarro was a human who was modified with Kryptonian genetics. Conner being half Human and half Kryptonian and all. So, basically what you're saying what it does is it makes his mind more uncontrollable while also making it more focused so instead of going crazy like if he was affected by red Kryptonite-”

“It allows him to take back control over his own mind. He created an antidote to Lex’s brainwashing! This is it! This is how we save him!” Dr. Fairchild yelled in excitement before hugging Winn.

 

She then broke the hug and apologized for it stating that it was unprofessional of her.

 

“Okay, so how do we make some of this?” Winn asked.

“It probably says something in his notes. Let me just-” she answered as she looked through some of the other pages.

“According to this he already made it.”

“What do you mean?” he asked her.

“I mean he wrote it in like some sort of journal entry. Look here,” she told him as she pointed to the page in question.

‘ _Project Krite: Day 3: June 5th: 2:56pm;_

_Sample was successfully created as of day two._

_No known side effects as of second day since injection._

_Whether or not the project was a success is unclear at moment and will be determined at indefinite time later upon next encounter with Lex Luthor._

_Fingers crossed_.’

“He injected himself with the stuff already? So, I guess it didn’t work,” Winn said defeated.

“Or maybe it did. You saw how he fought Luthor’s control earlier. Maybe it just takes some time for the effects to kick in.”

“Or it’s working its way out of his system but hey fingers crossed you’re right. Hey, why do you think he called it Project Krite? Like what is Krite?”

“Well the element Krypton is stylized by a capital K and lowercase R and Kryptonite is basically spelled as Krypton-ite, so-”

“Oh, I get it! Well I guess it’s more creative than calling it Project Purple.”

“Focus, Winn, we need to tell the others about this.”

“Right, right. Hopefully this new Kryptonite Conner created works, of course it being the third day since he injected himself with it it’s either A) wearing off or B) needing more time to work.”

“Let’s hope for the latter,” she said as she called Supergirl and her team consisting of Alex, Superman, and J’onn over the comm. link.

 

Dr. Fairchild was scared. She had hopes that Conner’s Kryptonite variant would work but she was also worried that nothing would free him from Lex. Not just in the sense of his brainwashing but just in general.

 

Lex had created him, raised him, trained him. How was Conner ever supposed to get away from that monster if he was such an integral part of his life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you guys think! Comments=LOVE!!!


	11. Attack at Titan

Kara, J’onn, and Clark had tracked Conner back to Titan Tower where he had been created and found Lex was hooking him up to a big machine near the building.

 

“What is that?” Kara wondered out loud.

“Don’t know, but knowing Lex it can’t be good,” Clark answered.

“I’m trying to read their minds but the Luthors and Henshaw seem to have found a way to shield their minds from me. I can’t- AHH!” J’onn was saying before being blasted back by a wave of magma caused by a red robot standing next to none other than…

“Red Tornado?! I thought I destroyed that thing!” Kara shouted in surprise.

“Okay, well what about that one?” Clark asked in reference to the robot that just started the attack.

“Like it? We call it Red Volcano. Loosely based it off of T. O. Morrow’s designs for Red Tornado which we pieced back together,” Lillian explained as she stepped forward.

 

The two robots then began their assault on the Kryptonians while J’onn got to his feet and was abruptly knocked back by Henshaw’s fist. With the aliens thoroughly distracted Lex and his mother continued their work with Conner and the machine.

 

“How is it coming?” she asked him.

“It’s coming along just fine, mother. Don’t you worry.”

“Very well. Remind me again how this is supposed to work?”

“The machine amplifies his powers allowing the sixth sense he gains through physical contact with an object to multiply tenfold to form a sort of radar sense that will allow him to sense any and every being on the planet and determine which ones are not native and eliminate them all in one fell swoop.”

“And here I thought that device you created to seed the atmosphere with Kryptonite was your masterpiece. This is-”

“Brilliant. I know. Hopefully that little act of defiance earlier doesn’t pose any problems,” he said as he got the machine up and running.

 

Meanwhile, J’onn, having been injured by the heat of the magma Volcano threw at him, was having trouble in handling Henshaw in their fight.

 

“This is what you get for stealing my name, my face, my life!” Henshaw screamed as he punched J’onn as hard as he could.

“You will pay for _everything_ you have taken from me!” he screamed some more as he threw J’onn through a nearby tree.

 

Kara and Clark were having trouble fighting the robots too.

 

“Supergirl!” Clark cried out as he saw Tornado stomp on his cousin.

“You know you can call me Kara. Not like Lillian hasn’t already told Lex or Henshaw my secret identity,” Kara called back getting out from under Tornado and using her super breath to blow the robot back.

 

Tornado then used its powers to absorb the wind she was blowing at him and redirect it back at her causing her to lose her footing allowing him to gain the upper hand and knock her down with one swift blow. Clark, having been distracted by Kara’s well-being, was also overpowered by Volcano who then proceeded to encase him in molten rock.

 

Conner noticed this from the platform he was hooked up to and struggled to break free against both his restraints and the programming inside his head.

 

“We’re losing control of him,” Lillian informed her son.

“Red Sun! Stand still!” Lex shouted at the boy hoping that by repeating the code phrase he’d regain control of the situation.

 

That plan failed as Conner managed to break free from the machine and use his powers to break it down into a dust which he then manipulated to create a sandstorm to distract the bad guys.

 

“I can’t see anything!” Lillian shouted.

“Red Tornado get rid of this dust!” Lex ordered the robot who was quickly taken by surprise as Conner grabbed it from behind.

“Huh, that’s odd,” Conner stated as his powers noticed something inside Tornado which he then removed.

“A control chip, you won’t be needing that anymore,” he said before crushing the small device in his hands as he released Tornado.

“Thank you,” Tornado told him before creating a gust of wind with which to attack Volcano.

“Unfortunately, my brother will not be so easily reformed. Excuse me. I have to go deal with him now,” Tornado said as he began to fight with Volcano.

“Kara, you okay?” Conner asked her as he helped her to her feet.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll go help J’onn you help Superman.”

“Deal!” he said rushing off to free Clark from the rock he was buried in.

“Hey, you okay?” Conner asked him as Clark coughed up pieces of rock.

“Yeah. How did you-?”

“Break Luthor’s control over me? Two words: Purple Kryptonite,” he said before chasing after the Luthors who were boarding a helicopter to escape.

“Oh sure. What the heck is Purple Kryptonite?” Clark asked as he followed suit.

 

As Conner and Clark caught up to Lex and his mother whose chopper was already in the air, Lillian pushed a button launching a Kryptonite missile at the two.

 

“Look out!” Conner said pushing Clark out of the way taking the entirety of the blow himself.

“Conner!” Clark cried out as he saw the kid fall.

 

He caught him in his arms, leaving the Luthors with the opportunity to get away. Clark listened for a heartbeat and found it to be very weak. He turned to Kara who walked up to them with Henshaw in cuffs and J’onn in tow along with Tornado who then presented them with the decapitated head of Red Volcano.

 

“We need to get him back to the DEO fast,” Clark said with a look of worry on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always loved and appreciated!


	12. What Happens Next

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the chapter title. I couldn't come up with something better.

When they got back to the DEO they got Conner in a solar pod to recover from the missile.

 

“Is he going to be okay?” Clark asked.

“Should be, but with his hybrid genetics there’s no telling how much the solar energy is going to help him,” J’onn responded.

“Hey, I heard what happened. Is Conner okay?” Mon-El asked as he showed up.

“No. He got hit by a kryptonite missile,” Clark replied with obvious frustration.

“Wow, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you were worried about him,” Kara responded sarcastically.

“I am worried about him,” Clark stated.

“Uh-huh sure you are.”

“He saved my life! Of course I’m worried about him.”

“Right, because him saving your life was the only way to prove to you that he wasn’t evil. You know he could die because of what happened. If you hadn’t gone with him to stop the Luthors he would’ve been able to focus on dodging the missile but instead he had to save you because you didn’t trust him to handle it on his own!”

“Enough! You two fighting isn’t going to help anything. Right now Lex and his mother are out there somewhere plotting their next move and instead of finding them we’re here wasting our time watching the two of you bicker like children!” J’onn shouted at the Kryptonians.

“Boy did it get quiet in here all of a sudden,” Mon-El whispered to Alex.

“Look Kara why don’t you come with me to interrogate Henshaw and Mon-El can stay here and keep an eye on Conner,” Alex suggested trying to break the tension in the room.

“Fine,” Kara responded as she followed her sister off to the holding cell.

“In the meantime, I’ll talk to Winn about figuring out the Luthors’ location,” J’onn added before leaving the room.

 

Once they were left alone Clark turned back to Conner and placed a hand on the glass pod he was resting in.

 

“You actually look like you care about him,” Mon-El remarked.

“I do care,” Clark replied.

“Since when? I mean all you’ve done since you met him is either avoid him or accuse him of being evil. You can’t blame Kara for thinking you hate him.”

“I don’t hate him.”

“Then how do you feel about him?”

“I- I don’t know. I look at him and sometimes I see me and other times I see Lex but most of the time I just see this kid who looks so broken and I don’t have a clue how to help him. And I don’t which part of him is real, the part that’s me, the part that’s Lex, or the part that’s broken. And I don’t know how I can trust him when I’m always questioning if the part that’s real is the one that’s like Lex. I just,” he ranted before letting out a sigh, “I just don’t know what to do with him.”

“Well I’ve spent a lot of time with him and for the most part he just seems like a kid who’s completely lost. I mean he’s spent his whole life being controlled by a madman so having free will to decide what he wants to do with his life is pretty new to him. And plus he’s a teenager this is the time of his life where he’s supposed to start figuring out his future but instead he’s stuck just trying to figure out life in general. I can see the parts that you see in him. Your heart, Lex’s brain, the emotional scars of his past that just won’t fade away. But overall, I just see a good kid. You might find that out if you ever just give him a chance,” Mon-El tells him.

“If he wakes up, I will,” Clark responds while looking at the unconscious kid sadly.

“Hey do you have any idea what Purple Kryptonite is?” Clark asked him.

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile at the lab, Winn was explaining the discovery he and Dr. Fairchild had made while the team was out to J’onn.

 

“Purple Kryptonite is an artificially made Kryptonite that basically acts as a sort of mind control cure. Conner started developing it after he heard Lex was looking for him,” Winn explained.

“So that’s how he was able to break Lex’s control over him. Smart kid. I can’t believe he came up with this all by himself,” J’onn replied.

“Well the good news is that if Lex ever tries to brainwash him again we’ll have this ready to save him before it’s too late,” Fairchild added.

“I’m sensing there’s also bad news,” J’onn questioned.

“The bad news it only lasts a week at a time so it’s not like he’s inoculated against the mind control phrase. And since it isn’t as radiant as other forms of Kryptonite it requires being injected into him to work. So if Lex does take control we’d have to get close to him to use it and close proximity does give him and advantage with his powers,” Fairchild explained.

“Well it’s a good thing we don’t have to worry about him being mind-controlled any time soon,” J’onn responds.

“Hey guys, Superman left,” Mon-El tells them as he enters the room.

“Left? Left to go where?” Winn asks.

“He said he was going to find Lex and make him face justice for what he did to Conner.”

“We need to find him before he does something stupid. Winn get the satellites working on tracking Superman’s location,” J’onn ordered.

 

As Clark went off to find the people responsible for hurting Conner they were fast at work getting their new project under way. Project Red Sun, a device that seared mental commands into a Kryptonian’s mind via red solar ray bombardment. If they couldn’t control Conner then they were at least going to take Superman for a consolation prize.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave COMMENTS NOT KUDOS!!!


	13. Superman's Rampage

Clark arrived at an old lair of Lex’s where he figured he might’ve run to after what happened at Titan Island. At first it seemed abandoned until he heard a noise and turned to see what it was just as the Luthors’ machine fired at him with a red beam of light.

 

“Well? Did it work?” Lillian asked her son.

“He’s not attacking so that’s a good sign. Superman, whom do you obey?” Lex asked the man of steel.

“You, Mr. Luthor. I am your servant,” Clark answered bringing a smile to Lex’s face.

“Good. We have work to do if we’re going to destroy that impeccable reputation of yours.”

 

* * *

 

Back at the DEO J’onn had Winn working on tracking Clark’s location.

 

“Mr. Schott, please tell me you’ve found him,” J’onn asked.

“Yeah, it seems he’s headed toward the park,” Winn replied.

“Kara, you’re with me, we’re going to go see what your cousin’s up to,” J’onn ordered.

“Right away sir,” Kara replied.

“I’m coming with. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen some action,” Mon-El insisted.

“Fine, but for the record you are going to need to get a suit at some point and a name,” Kara told him.

“I don’t know about a suit. I mean tights aren’t exactly my thing. But as for names I’ve been thinking of a few like maybe Valor. What do you think?”

“I think it sounds just a little bit pretentious,” Kara replied.

“And Superman isn’t?” he retorted.

“That was given to him by Perry White at the Daily Planet just like Supergirl was given to me by Cat Grant.”

“Whatever. I still like Valor though as a name.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll have Winn design you a suit later,” Kara said as they headed out.

 

* * *

 

The three alien heroes, if you count Mon-El, arrived at the park to find Superman on a rampage.

 

“Superman, what are you doing?!” Supergirl asked him only to receive a laser blast to the face.

 

J’onn then tackled the man of steel only to be thrown off and blasted with the Kryptonian’s heat vision. Mon-El then came up at Superman from behind only for his punch to be blocked and receive multiple blows to his torso before being thrown back into Kara who was starting to recover from the heat vision blast to her face.

 

“Is it just me or did he get stronger?” Mon-El asked as he and Kara got back to their feet.

“I don’t know but we need to stop him before he hurts somebody. Winn, you there?” Kara asked over the comm.

“Yeah, I’m here. Please tell me this news feed isn’t what it looks like,” Winn responded.

“Afraid I can’t do that,” Kara replied as she protected an injured J’onn from another dose of heat vision.

“Well what’s wrong with him?” Winn asked.

“Don’t know. It doesn’t look like Red Kryptonite. It might be some sort of brainwashing. Any ideas?”

“Maybe. Conner developed this sort of Purple Kryptonite to counter the effects of Lex’s brainwashing on him but it requires an injection of the stuff to work and since it looks like it was designed specifically for a Human-Kryptonian hybrid there’s no guarantee it would work anyway,” Winn replied.

“Well we have to try. Tell Alex to bring some of that stuff down here ASAP!” Kara replied as she became overwhelmed by Clark’s strength before being thrown into a car.

“You were right, he does seem stronger,” Kara groaned as Mon-El helped her up.

 

Alex arrived a little while later with the Purple Kryptonite in tow only to suddenly find herself in the choking grip of Superman himself. She had unfortunately dropped the Purple Kryptonite as he slammed her against a streetlamp and thus was unable to free herself. Luckily, she didn’t have to as J’onn managed to save her by grabbing Clark and throwing him away from her.

 

“You alright?” J’onn asked Alex as she regained her breath.

“Yeah. I’m- LOOK OUT!” Alex cried out as she pushed J’onn out of the way of a heat vision blast only to be struck herself.

“Alex!” J’onn cried out before attacking Clark with greater ferocity than he had before.

 

Still, that wasn’t enough as Clark severely scorched him with his heat vision and then turned to deal with his cousin and her Daxamite boyfriend again.

 

“We can’t keep this up,” Mon-El said while panting.

“We might not have to if we can get the Purple Kryptonite,” Kara said as she noticed the supply of their secret weapon Alex had dropped.

“Right, we just have to get past Superman to get to it.”

“I’ll hold off my cousin you just get the Purple Kryptonite.”

“Right.”

 

Kara then went head to head with the man of steel as Mon-El dodged their fight in order to grab the Purple Kryptonite. Just as Kara seemed to be losing her ground and was about to be struck down by her cousin, Mon-El injected Clark with all of the vials of Purple Kryptonite.

 

“Yes!” Mon-El cried out in victory before noticing it had no effect on Clark.

“Oh crap,” he sighed as Kara was thrown into him.

“It didn’t work,” Kara groaned as she got up.

“What are we going to do now?” Mon-El asked her.

“I don’t know,” Kara told him as she stared down her cousin who just wouldn’t stop fighting.

 

Meanwhile, back at the DEO Conner started to wake up in his pod. Hopefully things would start to turn around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave comments! I LOVE feedback!!!


	14. Introducing... Superboy!

Conner awoke in the DEO Medbay and quickly went to find everyone else.

 

“Hey, what’s going,” Conner asked as he walked up to the computers to see Superman’s rampage on the news, “on?”

“Clark’s been brainwashed by something we tried using that Purple Kryptonite stuff you invented but it didn’t work and now J’onn’s down for the count, so is Alex, Kara and Mon-El or Valor as he apparently wants to call himself are getting their butts handed to them on a silver platter, and nobody has a clue how to stop this,” Winn replied in a panic.

“I might. You tried Purple Kryptonite but I had designed it with the red and blue varieties because the red would affect my Kryptonian half while the blue would also be able to affect my Human genes as well. But Clark’s 100% Kryptonian so Blue Kryptonite wouldn’t affect him leaving the red half to do its work and make him more volatile.”

“Great so we basically just made the situation even worse,” Winn responded as he watched Clark throw Mon-El around like a rag doll on the monitor.

“Like that wasn’t obvious?”

“Okay, Mr. Smart Guy, what would you suggest we do?” Winn asked him.

“What we need is to combine Kryptonite varieties that will work on him to combat whatever kind of brainwashing he’s under. And I think I might know what combination will work. Be right back. In the meantime why don’t you send Red Tornado to help?” Conner said as he rushed to the lab to get to work.

“Red Tornado? Are you nuts? That thing would only make things worse!”

“He helped us capture Henshaw and take down his evil robot brother. He can help with this too. And don’t call him an it.”

“I know I’m going to regret this,” Winn muttered to himself as he went to send the robot to help with the fight.

 

Once at the lab Conner began working on a variant of Kryptonite to stop Superman. Meanwhile, Red Tornado arrived at the park and managed to throw Clark off of Mon-El just before the Daxamite could lose consciousness from his Kryptonian opponent’s chokehold.

 

“Are you alright?” Red Tornado asked him.

“Yeah. Thanks,” Mon-El replied as he tried to regain his breath.

“You’re welcome. Let’s hope I can be of some assistance in this fight,” Red replied.

“Yeah, let’s hope because otherwise we’re screwed,” Kara said as she helped Mon-El to his feet.

 

Back at the DEO Conner finally got the right combination of Red and Green Kryptonite to create a Red-Green variant that he hoped would free Clark’s mind.

 

“Okay, let’s hope this works,” Conner said to himself before rushing out of the building with the potential cure in hand.

 

Back at the park, Mon-El had just been knocked out, Red Tornado had been dismantled, and Kara was starting to get exhausted from having to fight her cousin for so long. How she still managed to stay upright was anyone’s guess though most likely because of her unbridled willpower. Clark stared her down while listening to Lex’s orders on an earpiece.

 

“What are you waiting for? Finish off Supergirl and then eliminate her insipid allies,” Lex ordered over the comm.

 

Clark stepped toward his cousin only to suddenly find Conner standing in his path.

 

“You don’t want to do this, Superman,” Conner said to him.

“Do not harm the boy. I want him brought back to me alive. Right now your priority is to kill your infuriating cousin. Now do it!” Lex barked.

“I’ve been ordered not to hurt you but I cannot allow you to stand in my way. Now step aside,” Clark said to his clone.

“No,” Conner stated firmly.

“Very well then,” Clark said before tackling Conner across the field.

 

Clark held him down forcefully by the throat while Conner reached for his back pocket to pull out the Red-Green Kryptonite.

 

“I have been ordered not to hurt you. Stand down and this will be painless,” Clark told him.

“Guess you don’t know much about my powers otherwise you would know that touching me doesn’t really work for you,” Conner said before using his tactile telekinesis to render Clark unconscious.

 

Conner pushed Superman off of him before taking the Red-Green Kryptonite and injecting it into him. He then took a step back as Clark had an adverse reaction to the Red-Green variant shooting upright in apparent pain as his veins glowed red just as his eyes glowed green. Clark then fell unconscious prompting Conner to reach down to check his pulse.

 

“Phew, he’s still alive,” Conner sighed in relief before noticing Kara fall to her knees.

“Supergirl!” he shouted as he rushed to her side.

“You alright?” he asked her.

“Yeah. I mean I’m more exhausted than I’ve ever been in my life and my friends all need immediate medical attention but at least my cousin’s no longer trying to kill me,” she replied breathlessly.

 

As he helped her to stand nearby civilians including a reporter came over applauding.

 

“What are they doing?” he asked Kara.

“They’re clapping because you just saved the day,” she smiled.

“Superboy, Superboy, how did you do it? How did you manage to defeat the man of steel when no other hero could?” the reporter lady asked him.

“Um, Superboy?” he asked in confusion.

“Is that not what we should call you? Because with that shirt on I just figured,” the reporter replied.

“Um, no, uh Superboy’s fine. And to answer your question I used a special variant of Kryptonite to stop him and hopefully erase whatever brainwashing Lex used on him but we won’t know until he wakes up again. Um if you don’t mind I should really get everyone to a medical facility So, goodbye,” he answered before waving and rushing to get Clark, Kara, Mon-El, Alex, and J’onn back to the DEO Medbay and recovering the remains of Red Tornado hoping to revive their robotic ally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews=Love <3


	15. Healing

Conner, now known as Superboy to the public, had returned to the DEO with his injured friends and family and was working on rebuilding Red Tornado in the lab when Winn walked in.

 

“Hey, what uh what are you doing there?” Winn asked.

“Healing Red Tornado,” Conner replied.

“Healing?”

“Yes, healing. He’s a person in my book so he’s being healed not fixed or repaired as you would say about an inanimate object. Red Tornado’s a person therefore he should be treated as one.”

“Okay, clearly you have issues.”

“Of course I do. I spent my whole life being treated as a weapon. I hate being seen as an object. Anyway, how are the others doing?”

“Everyone’s been fixed, I mean healed up except for Clark and Alex. Alex being human her arm’s going to be in a sling for a while meanwhile no one seems to know what’s wrong with Clark.”

“But he’s going to be okay, right? I mean it’s not like I killed him or something, right?” Conner asked with a tone of panic.

“Uh yeah, yeah, he’ll be- he’ll be fine. I’m sure of it. Don’t worry.”

“You’re placating me right now, aren’t you?”

“Little bit yeah. But you still shouldn’t worry.”

“I’m not worried,” Conner said with a sad tone before brushing away a tear.

“Here, I uh I think this’ll work. Stand back,” Conner ordered of Winn.

 

Conner then restarted Red Tornado who sat up on the table before getting up.

 

“I am conscious. Thank you for repairing me,” Red Tornado said to Conner.

“You’re welcome. I’m glad I could heal you.”

“I am a robot. I do not heal, I get fixed.”

“You’re as much a person as anyone so healing would be the right word for it.”

“Your logic does not follow. I am a machine. Healing by definition requires one to be an organic being,” Red Tornado replied.

“I still think heal is the right word.”

“Clearly you have issues,” Red Tornado stated.

“Right well we should probably go check back in on Clark and the others.”

“And track down the Luthors,” Winn added.

“Right, did Alex and Kara get anything from Henshaw?”

“Nope, he’s way too loyal to them to ever give them up and unfortunately his enhancements prevent J’onn from reading his mind,” Winn answered.

“I think I might know how to find them,” Conner smirked as he headed off.

“Hey, wait! Aren’t you going to tell us the plan?” Winn asked the kid as he chased after him.

 

Meanwhile, Kara sat at her cousin’s bedside wondering why he wasn’t waking up.

 

“He’s going to be fine, Kara,” J’onn reassured her.

“I hope so. Have the tests figured out what’s wrong with him yet?” she asked hopefully.

“Not yet. We’re still running a couple of them but we should know soon enough what’s going on with Clark. This Red-Green Kryptonite is something none of us have ever seen before. There’s no telling what it did to him exactly.”

“Well I have faith in Conner. He knows what he’s doing.”

 

* * *

 

“Do you even know what you’re doing?” Winn asked Conner.

“Yes, I do. I’m tricking Lex into thinking that I’ll make a deal with him. All I have to do is send this message out on the right frequency and he’ll meet with me.”

“This is nuts! All you’re doing is creating a trap for _yourself_! Lex isn’t going to be dumb enough to come without some kind of a plan and quite possibly some Kryptonite,” Winn argued.

“I agree with Mr. Schott. This plan is deeply flawed if at all thought out,” Red Tornado concurred.

“Thank you. I mean why not just use the earpiece Clark had on him to track them that way?” Winn asked.

“Because, there’s no way Lex would be dumb enough to have left the channel open for that to be possible.”

“I still think this is a horrible plan,” Winn restated.

“Whatever, I’m still doing it. Alright and turning on the mic,” Conner said as he flipped a switch, “This message goes out to Lex Luthor. As you might recall I recently used a brand-new variant of Kryptonite against Superman in order to free him from your control. Unfortunately there was a side-effect in that he is now dying because of it and the only thing that can save him is the Green Kryptonite you had Henshaw steal from the Fortress of Solitude so what I am proposing is that if you give us the Kryptonite in order to neutralize the variant I used on him, I will surrender myself to you. You will not need any trigger words nor will I resist your commands. I will be the weapon you want me to be. All you have to do is bring the Kryptonite to the roof of Catco Worldwide Media at midnight tonight and hand it off to Agent Schott and I will go with you peacefully. These are my terms. Accept them or don’t it is up to you.”

“I’m just going to say this again. Horrible, horrible plan,” Winn told Conner.

“Maybe. But it’s the only chance we have at catching the Luthors and besides, I saw Clark’s test results. He really does need the Kryptonite. I got the balance between the red and the green wrong and only some added Green Kryptonite will balance it out. We have to do this. For Clark,” Conner stated firmly as he put his hand in.

“For Clark,” Winn reluctantly agreed placing his hand on Conner’s.

“I do not understand this custom but I agree with you. The reward would outweigh the risk,” Red Tornado concurred placing his own hand in the circle.

“Good, now let’s save Superman,” Conner said taking his hand away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to leave comments!


	16. The End

Conner and Winn arrived at the Catco rooftop where Lex and his mother were already waiting for them.

 

“You have the Kryptonite?” Conner asked them.

“Yes, as promised,” Lex replied.

“Come here son,” Lex added.

 

Conner then tried to step forward only to be stopped by Winn.

 

“Not until you give us the Kryptonite,” Winn told him.

“Very well then. Mother?” Lex replied.

 

Lillian then walked over to Winn and handed him the briefcase containing the radioactive mineral before opening it causing Conner to double over in pain. Winn tried to grab the briefcase from Lillian who used a taser to stop him. Conner then passed out from the Kryptonite radiation and Lex picked him up in his arms.

 

“This went well,” Lex remarked.

“Let’s just go before anyone else shows up,” Lillian suggested.

“No one else is going to show up mother. Supergirl would probably be too busy tending to her cousin and I sincerely doubt the DEO would have ever authorized this. More likely Titan talked this Winn fellow into going along with his plan.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” Lillian responded.

“Wrong!” Red Tornado declared as he flew onto the roof, standing in the path to their helicopter.

“Stand down at once. Do not make me ask again,” Tornado finished.

“We could do that or,” Lex replied just as Lillian took out an EMP device and activated it.

 

Seeing that it did nothing Lillian frantically started pushing the button even more.

 

“Why isn’t this thing working?” she said frustrated.

“Probably because Superboy altered some of my components in order to render me immune to electromagnetic pulses. Now seeing as how you have refused to stand down I am left with no other choice than to use force to stop you,” Red Tornado stated.

 

He then flew into the air, creating a vortex around the Luthors who soon found themselves unable to breathe because of the airlessness of the whirlwind. Soon enough Lex and his mother passed out from the lack of oxygen and Red Tornado managed to get them, Conner, and Winn back to DEO headquarters along with the briefcase full of Kryptonite.

 

* * *

 

Kara sat at Clark’s bedside next to her sister when J’onn came in with Conner and Winn.

 

“Hey, what’s that?” Kara asked of the small needle filled with a green substance.

“It’s going to save Clark’s life,” J’onn answered as he injected Superman with the substance.

“How? I thought we’d need Kryptonite for that,” Alex asked.

“We do. It is. I got it from Lex and his mother when I tricked them into showing up at Catco with a briefcase full of Kryptonite,” Conner replied proudly.

“You did what?” Kara asked.

“I tricked Lex Luthor and his mother Lillian. Yeah I just told them if they gave us some Kryptonite then I’d hand myself over to them.”

“And they bought that?” Alex questioned.

“Not really. They showed up with some weapons on them but didn’t get the chance to use most of them because Red Tornado took them down before they could do anything. Oh I healed Red Tornado by the way.”

“Healed?” Alex asked.

“Do not get him started,” Winn responded.

“How long do you think it’ll take before this wo-” J’onn started to ask before Clark jolted awake.

“He’s awake!” Winn rejoiced.

“You’re okay!” Conner shouted happily as he threw his arms around Clark in a hug before pulling back once he realized what he’d done.

“Um sorry about that. I was just happy you were okay. Uh excuse me,” Conner said as he tried to leave before his arm was grabbed by Clark.

“Hey wait a second. Uh guys can you give us a minute?” Clark asked of the others in the room.

“Sure, we’ll be in the main room if you need us,” Kara replied as everyone left the room.

“So you uh wanted to talk to me?” Conner asked.

“Yeah, listen Conner I haven’t been all that fair to you. I’ve been treating you as suspicious and untrustworthy just because of your connections to Lex both genetically and in terms of how you grew up and I shouldn’t have. You’re a better person than Lex could ever hope to be and the fact that this is how you turned out in spite of his influence on your life shows character. It’s proof that you are a good person and I should have accepted that a lot sooner. You’re a good kid Superboy and I’m proud of you,” Clark replied.

“I uh, I don’t know what to say,” Conner told him as he fought back tears.

“Don’t say anything just give me another hug and be happy we both survived the Luthors.”

“And that they’re in jail. Red Tornado, Winn, and I kind of captured them while you were out cold.”

“Whatever just give your old man a hug,” Clark said gesturing for Conner to hug him.

 

Conner gave in and hugged him with a smile on his face as he did.

 

“You’re not an old man by the way. You don’t even look it,” Conner told him.

“No, no, no. Calling someone, someone else’s old man means that you’re referring to them as that person’s father.”

“Oh,” Conner said in a deflated tone.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I just- It’s just that when I was growing up Lex would make me call him father to try and assert his control over me. So the words father and dad don’t exactly have good connotations for me.”

“Oh, I’m- I’m sorry I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay. Not your fault.”

“Yeah sorry I-” Clark started to say before hearing an alarm go off across town.

“There’s trouble downtown,” Clark stated.

“Oh well good luck with that. Not that you need it.”

“No, but I might need some help. Care to give me a hand Superboy?”

“I’d love to,” Conner said with a smile, “Let’s go!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed this story! Please feel free to leave comments.


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